Ceremony, exhibit kick off Black History Month

Speakers, singers, students gather to honor important historical figures

Feb. 1, 2006

Asi Manu, left, and Amber Ramociotti, both members of the Reed High Black Student Union, were among 33 Reed students to come to TMCC for the kickoff of Black History Month on Wednesday afternoon. The two were wandering through an exhibit featuring, among others, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Ghandi and Daisaku Ikeda / Tim Dunn/Reno Gazette-Journal

The four-woman group 4w/God sing for the crowd at TMCC during the opening of Black History Month on Wednesday afternoon / Tim Dunn/Reno Gazette-Journal

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Inventors and advocates for civil rights, humanity and peace were remembered Wednesday at a ceremony and exhibit in Reno that kicked off Black History Month.

In addition to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, many others were recognized.

Charles Richard Drew pioneered the idea of a blood bank and long-term preservation of plasma; George Washington Carver developed products from nuts and sweet potatoes; Philip B. Downing invented the mailbox; and Garrett Morgan invented the gas mask and traffic signal

"This is an educational institution, and part of our service to not only our students but to the community is to bring education and social awareness," said Juanita Chrysanthou, Truckee Meadows Community College vice president of student services. "There is a lot of negative (in black history) but also a lot of positive."

Activists remembered

Black History Month founder Carter G. Woodson and abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass were among a host of civil rights activists honored. Woodson in February 1926 started Black History Week, which included the whole month starting in 1976.

"It's a pretty good exhibit that shows the past history of blacks and what they went through," said Asi Manu, 17, a Reed High School student.

Reed student Steven Hammonds, 15, recalled studying railroad worker Jim Beckwourth, who in the 1850s founded the Beckwourth Trail, which started in Reno and went west to California.

"He came around this region and was close to where we live," Hammonds said. "African-Americans went through a lot back in the day and we need to remember it so we don't go through slavery and racism anymore."

The Rev. Onie Cooper, 80, talked about King's legacy and the importance of working together. He said it's sad that King was assassinated for doing what he believed in.

"If you don't believe in something, you will fall for anything," Cooper said.